Positive Psychology:Evolution, Philosophical Foundations, and Present Growth

Positive psychology has emerged as an important domain in the field of psychology. In the past one and half decade, it has received wider scholarly attention resulting in numerous theoretical and empirical works that have appeared in many peer-reviewed journals. This paper attempts to develop an understanding of the this evolving domain of psychology, trace its philosophical foundations, explore its linkages with other domains of psychology, especially, the existential psychology and humanistic psychology and map its growth in the recent past. This paper begins with the introduction of positive psychology and presents an overview of its historical development. Then it attempts to explore the philosophical foundations of positive psychology as well as its linkages with two sub-domains of psychology the existential psychology and the humanistic psychology. Thereafter, it provides an overview of the emergence and growth of PP in the past 18 years. Finally, it concludes highlighting some of the limitations of this paper.